【正文】 s destiny。 from his father, who gave him the freedom to follow his own interest. In 1833, he published his first poetic work Pauline, which brought great embarrassment upon him. But in his second attempt Sordello (1840), he went too far in selfcorrection that the poem became so obscure as to be hardly readable. He even tried play writing but failed. All these frustrating experiences forced the poet to develop a literary form that suited him best amp。 extraordinary personalities. IV. Theme the struggle of an individual towards selfrealization. V. Style 1. realism (criticism of the existing society) bined with romanticism (horror, mystery amp。愛(ài) III. Wuthering Heights 呼嘯山莊 1. Plot (P264268) a story about two families and an intruding stranger 2. Point of view: first person point of view。 hereditary influences which govern human action. 4. She is interested in the development of a soul, the slow growth or decline of moral power of the character. 5. Eliot holds the belief that a certain act in daily life will produce a definite moral effect on the individual. 6. Most of her novels are characterized by two features: moral teaching amp。 a collection of satirical essays, The Impressions of Theophrastus Such, constitute a formidable body of work from a woman frail in health amp。 ② both novelists, humorists。 the stories are better structured. Most novels of this period present a sharper criticism of social evils amp。 mystery to make the story fascinating. 4. The Power of Exposure As the greatest representative of English critical realism, Dickens made his novel the instrument of morality amp。 Edwin Drood 《艾德溫 Son 《董貝父子》 (18461848)。 尼克貝》 (18381839)。 practiced. Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happiness. Charles Dickens (18121870) I. Life: 1. a middle class family 2. once was a child labor in a shoeblacking factory 3. a clerk, a reporter, a writer 4. the poets’ corner II. Major Works 1. Oliver Twist。 the new Poor Law of 1834 with its workhouse system finally gave rise to the Chartist Movement (18361848). During the next twenty years, England settled down to a time of prosperity amp。 hearts. In “l(fā)istening” to those onesided talks, readers can form their own opinions amp。 working conditions. They, for three times, made appeals to the government, with hundreds of thousands of people’s signatures. The movement swept over most of the cities in the country. Although the movement declined to an end in 1848, it did bring some improvement to the welfare of the working class. This was the first mass movement of the English working class amp。 bitter amp。 William Thackeray etc. 4. Features of Victorian novels In this period， the novel became the most widely read amp。English Literature of the Victorian Age 1. The Victorian Period: Chronologically the Victorian period roughly coincides with the reign of Queen Victoria who ruled over England from1836 to 1901. The period has been generally regarded as one of the most glorious in the English history. II. Historical Background 1. economy: Industrial Revolution (1760 – 1840) 2. politics: Chartist movement (1838 – 1848) 憲章運(yùn)動(dòng) 3. science: Darwin’s theory of evolution(1859) 4. society: the women question Queen Victoria ( 1837 – 1901) The early years of the Victorian England was a time of rapid economic development as well as serious social problems. III. Critical Realism 1. definitionEnglish critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the 40s and in the early 50s. It found its expression in the form of novel. The critical realists, most of whom were novelists, described with much vividness and artistic skill the chief traits of the English society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint. 2. Features: Victorian literature, as a product of its age, naturally took on its quality of magnitude amp。 the most vital amp。 strong criticism of the society had done much in awakening the public consciousness to the social problems amp。 the early sign of the awakening of the poor, oppressed people. Utilitarianism Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happiness. This theory held a special appeal to the middleclass industrialists, whose greed drove them to exploiting workers to the utmost amp。 judgments about the speaker’s personality amp。 relative stability. The middleclass life of the time was characterized by prosperity, respectability amp。霧都孤兒 2. David Copperfield。 The Old Curiosity Shop《老古玩店》 ( 18401841)。 David Copperfield 《大衛(wèi) 德魯?shù)轮i》 (unfinished) (1870) Distinct Features of His Novels 1. Character Sketches amp。 justice. Each of his novels reveals a specific social problem. 5. unnatural happy ending His Literary Creation amp。 morals of the Victorian England, for example, Bleak House, Hard Times, Great Expectations amp。 ③ both criticized the Victorian society satirically. 2. differences: ① D described the mon people, T mainly described the lives of aristocrats and rich people. ② D was a sentimentalist. T was a cynic who doubted the goodness of human nature as a spectator. ③ D advocated social reforms, T was not a crusader for good causes. ④ D was a romanticist, T was against all romantic conventions. Gee eliot I. life 1. Gee Eliot (18191880), pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans, was born on Nov. 22, 1819 into an estate agent’ s family in Warwickshire, England. 2. Though brought up under strict religious influences, she early abandoned religious beliefs, adopted agnostic opinions about Christian doctrine, amp。 working constantly under the apprehension of failure or worthlessness. III. Achievements 1. Writing at the latter half